The present invention relates to a device for mixing a liquid phase and a gaseous phase and more particularly to an apparatus for enhancing the aerobic growth of micro-organisms such as yeast, fungi and bacteria.
In biological reactors or fermentation vessels of the type where micro-organisms are grown in a liquid broth, i.e. a body of fermentation-supporting liquid medium containing nutrient medium, it is vitally important to supply air or oxygen in sufficiently great quantities to the organisms so as to facilitate their growth and, hence, the progress of the biochemical reaction.
One such biological reactor has been described in the commonly owned copending application, Ser. No. 559,362, filed on Mar. 17, 1975.
Optimum growth conditions require intensive aeration. This aeration requirement, on the order of 2 through 3 parts gaseous medium to one part of substrate medium, causes the problem of requiring large amounts of gaseous medium to be introduced into the vessel under high pressure which, in turn, requires aa high air-compressor output.
It will be appreciated that when the vessels are relatively large and require on the order of several hundred cubic meters of air per minute such high compressor outputs require high electrical power inputs, usually on the order of several thousand kilowatts of electrical energy.
The costs of construction and operation of such an arrangement are prohibitive, especially in applications in the fields of producing nutrient and fodder proteins, i.e., the field of growing yeast, bacteria and fungi.